Inhuman
by Naasad
Summary: Rex and Anakin are very suspicious of the 501st's new reinforcements.


Anakin Skywalker ran a tired hand through his hair. "Reinforcements?" he asked Rex.

The Captain nodded sharply, just as weary. "On their way."

"How many?"

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen squads? Platoons? What?"

Rex shook his head. "Eighteen troopers."

Anakin barked out a short laugh. "I hope they're commandos or something, because eighteen more troopers just won't be enough."

Rex nodded, tightening his grip on his '17s. "I just hope they survive."

Anakin nodded slowly. "Me, too."

The two looked up at the sound of the LAAT/is approaching the base camp. Enemy rockets soared toward the gunships, and for once, all of them missed their targets. The first out of the gunships walked like an old man. "Come on, boys!" He settled next to Rex behind the barricades. "Sergeant Bane reporting for duty, sirs!"

Anakin nodded. "Good to have you, Sergeant. Welcome to the party. Who else is with you?"

Two more sergeants jogged over, staying low. "Spotter," one grunted.

"Animal," the other said.

Bane stood and lazily fired off a shot. Soon after he ducked back down, he was rewarded with a distinct explosion. He waved one of his men over. "My second, Boom. Alpha Squad, form on me, defend the east side of the encampment."

Rex raised an eyebrow at the Sergeant's bravado – or lack of respect. "Later, I'll have to remind him how the chain of command works," he muttered to Skywalker.

"Our squads tend to work apart, specops units," Animal explained. "Bane's not used to the chain of command applying to him."

"Yeah," another clone piped up. "You could say he feels entitled to the war – it's his, he gets to call all the shots."

"Dash," Animal said firmly. He turned to Rex. "Dash is my Three – my second's out of commission right now. Spotter's the only one with a full squad right now – Bane's missing one, too."

"What happened to your second?" Rex asked.

Animal frowned beneath his helmet. "He fell behind, covering our _shebse_."

Rex set his jaw and turned to the battle at hand. "I look forward to meeting all your men, later."

…oOo…

Hours later, during a lull in the fighting, Anakin gathered the three new squads in the command center. "Alright, boys, I'm General Skywalker. This is my Legion – I call the shots, I defend them. If you have a problem with my orders, you come to me. If you have a problem with my men, you come to me. I'm open to suggestions, but I am your superior. I have final say."

Bane snorted from his position. "I could say the same for my squads. Sir."

Anakin came to stand right in front of Bane. "You are a Sergeant."

"And you are a General. But I'm not part of your Legion, and these are my men. I'll give them orders. I'll work with you, because the situation demands it, but I won't be your lesser. I've fought too long and too hard and lost too many men to follow someone just because they're a _shabla jetii_. With all due respect,  sir: Prove yourself."

Boom pushed himself to the front. "What Bane means to say is that we will gladly follow you, sir, and he'll get his head out of his _shebs_ and  complete the mission," he said with finality.

Bane glared at his second.

"Right? Sir."

"Right," Bane snarled.

Anakin took a step back and shared a look with Rex. "Alright," he said, "now that that's taken care of…. Let's get to know eachother. Rex?"

Rex stepped up. "Right, I'm Rex. But you can call me Captain or Sir. I lead Torrent Company directly, as well as the 501st as a whole. Alpha Squad?"

The three men who were not already introduced stood to attention. "Bes, sir, short for Beskar'gam," one said. "Heavy gunner."

"Therm…," said another.

"… and Mo. Infantry, sir!"

Rex nodded. "Bravo Squad?"

Spotter gestured for his men to step up.

"Vine," one said with a lisp. He removed his helmet to reveal heavy scarring over his face. "I'm sergeant's second."

"Antimatter," said another, "or just An. Three, sir."

"Recall, Infantry."

"Porcy or Porcypine. Also infantry."

"Touchpoint, sir, medic for all three squads."

Rex nodded. "Charlie Squad?"

Animal and Dash stood to one side as the other three came to attention.

"Flip, sir, specialty in hand-to-hand combat, infantry."

"Scream, infantry."

"Spin, heavy gunner."

Anakin frowned as an easy feeling settled in his gut. He reached out to the new squads with the Force, hoping to find… something.

All sixteen recoiled as if struck. Bane immediately settled into a fighting stance, looking Skywalker dead in the eye.

Eyes wide, Anakin took a placating step backwards. "My apologies."

Rex glanced at his general, clueless as to what had just happened. "Dismissed." He walked over to Anakin and took him to the side. "What was that?"

Anakin shook his head. "There's something off about them. I don't know what, but there's something off about them. They could sense me. I wasn't even probing, more… expanding my awareness of my surroundings, but they could sense me. It was… strange."

Rex nodded. "I'll have the boys keep their eyes peeled. They're clones through and through, though, so other than some Seppie tactic, there couldn't be much off."

Anakin shook his head. "They've had a bad experience with a Force user. Something like Umbara, I think."

Rex raised an eyebrow. There was an unspoken rule in the Legion that no one spoke of Umbara – especially not the Jedi. "Are you certain?"

Anakin nodded. "Positive. Did you see their reaction?"

Rex nodded slowly. "I'll keep an eye on them. You never know how they might react. I just hope we don't have more Slicks."

"Me, too, Rex. Me, too."

…oOo…

 _ **A/N: Another first chapter with nothing to follow yet. I have a VERY good idea about how this is going to go, and a whole AU planned in my head. But… wanted to test the waters. WARNING: Marvel-ish crossover. Mention of characters and places, but no actual appearances. Hence why it is not in the crossover section.**_

 _ **So let me know what you thought. Enough positive reviews, and I'll get to work on putting what's in my head down on paper. ;)**_

 _ **(Just, please, keep flames to yourself.)**_

 _ **See ya around!**_

 _ **Namarië!**_

 _ **~River**_


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